


Yearly Update

by androgynousclintbarton



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Kakagai if you squint XD, Sakumo's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26272105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousclintbarton/pseuds/androgynousclintbarton
Summary: Every September 3rd Kakashi make's sure to visit, no matter how hard it might be.
Kudos: 16





	Yearly Update

Sunshine pierced through the window onto Kakashi’s face, dragging him out of the light slumber he had finally managed to fall into after Hours of nightmares had kept him up for most of the night. 

This was already a shitty start to an otherwise terrible day, but with nothing to block the sun out of his bedroom, Kakashi knew he was unlikely to fall back asleep.

“Fine,” he grumbled, throwing his feet over the edge of the bed and sitting up. There were times he knew he wasn’t going to be able to argue with the universe. That if everything around him wanted him to drag his ass out of bed, he wasn’t going to be able to avoid it. Better to give in and get up rather than laying in bed trying to get some sleep with the blazing sun in his eyes. 

Perhaps today the universe just wanted him to get out and about as quickly as possible. After all, he had told his team that he would meet them at 1pm for their daily training, and he had somewhere to be beforehand.

Somewhere he couldn’t forget about.

Pushing himself out of bed, Kakashi made his way over to his closet and started to search for something to wear. Usually he would just grab his Jonin uniform and call it a day, but he still hated wearing it on this day. It was like a reminder of everything he had missed out on. The celebrations, the tears, the time he had lost. 

No, today he was going to wear his favorite blue Yukata. The one that Gai had helped him pick out just before Tenzo’s birthday celebration a few years ago. The only non-uniform clothing he really had except for a select few t-shirts and his father’s old clan outfits that he had tucked away in a box and left under his bed. 

None of that seemed acceptable for today. Not when he had such an important visit to make. 

With his clothing picked out, Kakashi started to change. For once he was thankful that he had decided to shower the night before, an attempt to clear his head that ended up saving him some time now. Perhaps he’d be able to stop by the Yamanaka Flower shop on his way and pick up some lilies. 

* * *

The door chimed, alerting Ino to the arrival of a new customer. Lifting her head up, she smiled brightly as her father continued to work on the flower arrangement that he needed to have done in the next hour.

“Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower shop, how can i…” Her brain came to a crashing halt. For a moment she hadn’t recognized the man in front of her, unused to seeing him out of his Jonin uniform or without Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke trailing somewhere behind him. But now that she had a moment to really examine him, there was no mistake. “Kakashi-Sensei! I don’t see you here very often.”

Probably not the best thing for her to say, but it was true nonetheless. Kakashi-Sensei didn’t seem like the type of person to get flowers for someone else, so she had never really been surprised when he didn’t come into the flower shop like Asuma-Sensei, Or Gai-Sensei. 

“Kakashi!” Her dad looked up when she had called out Kakashi-Sensei’s name “I should have known you would be here today.”

That was...odd. Ino couldn’t recall a time when she had ever seen Kakashi-Sensei in the flower shop, so why would her dad be expecting him?

“I had some extra time this morning,” A true fact. Sakura had told Ino what time they had training today, and for once it was in the afternoon instead of morning. Sakura had joked about her Sensei picking this time so that he could be on time for once. But seeing the Sensei standing in front of her now, Ino was certain Sakura was exaggerating when she complained about the man’s tardiness. There were so few people who came to the flower shop this early, and he looked like he was already headed somewhere. “I was wondering…” before he could finish his sentence, Ino’s father was pointing at the select few White Lilies that he had in stock. 

A flower Ino knew her father only really stocked around this time every year unless someone asked for them specifically. She was never quite sure why this time of year was so different, but it seemed that the flowers were meant for Kakashi-Sensei and maybe others like him? One thing she did know about those flowers, was that at some point later in the day Her father would pick out three of them and tell her and her mother that he would be back later.

He had never told her where he was going with those beautiful white Lilies.

“It’s the first time you’ve come to pick one up in a while,” Her father continued, turning his attention back to the flower arrangement in front of him while he continued to speak. “I was sort of starting to think you weren’t going to visit him anymore.”

Silence fell between them as her father continued his work, and Kakashi-Sensei picked out the prettiest of all the Lilies. At least, that’s what she had thought when she saw the new batch arrive when they opened the store that morning. 

“I visit every year,” her father turned his attention back to Kakashi-Sensei, a look of shock on his face “I just don’t always remember to come get a flower. Work, you know.”

There’s a sad look in Kakashi-Sensei’s eye when he turns his gaze towards them. Almost like he was trying to apologize to her dad. 

“Well, at least you found time this year,” Her father gave him a sad smile while his fingers linger against the sunflower in the middle of his current arrangement. “I suppose we won’t see you there?”

“I’ll probably be training with my pups…” A sharp eye darted over to Ino when the last word slipped out “Please don’t tell them i call them that. I will never hear the end of it.”

Ino couldn’t help but chuckle. And Sakura said her Sensei wasn’t any fun. “I won’t tell them, promise.” She smiled up at him.

With a nod, Kakashi-Sensei threw down some money on the counter and started towards the door, stopping just as he was about to head outside and turning back to look at her dad. “Oh, and Inoichi?” Her dad smiled back at him “Tell Gai the Sunflower is his thing, not mine.”

“I’ll make sure to let him know,” Her dad laughed, his attention coming back down to the arrangement that he was still working on. “Though, i’m not sure he’ll be happy with the news.”

Ino wasn’t sure what exactly had just happened, but at least she had an answer to one question. She had always wondered who Gai-Sensei was sending his yearly flower arrangements to. Apparently today was an important day to Kakashi-Sensei for some reason.

* * *

The walk to his destination had been almost relaxing. One or two stops to help out Random villagers with minor problems, and a quick chat with Asuma when he passed by the BBQ Place to see him buying lunch for Shikamaru and Choji (Asuma swore to him that Ino had turned down the offer, but he was a little skeptical about that), and Kakashi finally made it. 

As always, as soon as he stepped past the entrance the air around him changed. Maybe not as much as it used to. Less ‘dread’ and ‘self loathing’ weighing down on him as he made his way towards his destination, but the cheerful spirit that he had managed to find while visiting his friend and helping people out had disappeared completely. 

Now he just felt, cold. Almost like it was raining, though the sun was still shining down on him as brightly as when it had woken him up a few hours ago. Maybe this was why he didn’t visit as often as he used to? He wasn’t sure exactly why when he was here almost every morning, just a few feet away. 

Coming to a stop, Kakashi looked down at the small slab of stone. Something he had come to hate for years when he was still young, though he had convinced himself it was because of what had happened. The actions that had led to this particular slab being put in this spot all those years ago.

“Sorry i’m a little late,” His voice is soft as he speaks, kneeling down and carefully placing the white lily he had bought in the vase that always sat there. “I made a pit stop. Thought you could use an extra flower.”

With the lily in place, Kakashi sat down in front of the stone and took a deep breath. Even after all these years it was still hard. He had so much to say but never enough words. A years worth of stories and adventures to tell in just a few hours. 

“I’ve got a team of Genin now,” A small huff escapes at the thought “It took me three years, but i finally found a team. They’re not perfect, but they’re good. Strong, good kids. I think you would have liked them.”

“There’s so much to tell you. It has been a pretty busy year and i’m not sure i have enough time to fill you in on everything that has happened, but i’ll do my best,” He can’t help but smile as he imagines the other person sitting in front of him, ready to hear everything that he has to say. “I guess i should start of by saying, Happy Birthday, Dad.”


End file.
